1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to post surgical pet collars such as restrictive pet collars used to keep animals from inflicting injury on themselves.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically veterinarians use stiff Elizabethan style plastic post surgical pet collars to keep animals that have been injured or are prone to excessive biting or licking of themselves from irritating the afflicted area. These collars are often bulky and uncomfortable and may be frightening and confusing to the animals, causing additional problems for the animal including keeping them from their daily activities. Post surgical pet collars come in many different forms that include foam or inflatable portions. The few collars that are inflatable typically require attachment of the surgical collar the dog's existing collar or a separate attached shawl to provide a snug fit. Also, a number of the inflatable collars are uniform in shape and make it difficult to fit a wide range of pet sizes and uncomfortable for the pets themselves. In most cases, the existing post surgical pet collars are measured from the neck to the snout of the pet. As will become apparent with the description of the embodiments claimed herein, the existing sizing schemes and corresponding collars can result in bulky devices that don't necessarily provide the most appropriate comfort and sizing for a pet recovering from surgery.
A number of alternative post surgical pet collars have been developed, many of which are also uncomfortable and stiff, and often are also unattractive, often being repellant to the pet owners and observers. Some of the prior collars are somewhat softer and less stiff than the traditional stiff Elizabethan style plastic collars, and include a variety of foam or other soft materials in their construction. Some of these collars have hardware or other added components to attach them to or hold them on the animal's neck. Examples of such collars are found in the following patents and the patents discussed therein.
The collar of Miller (U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,814) utilizes a split doughnut-shaped foam piece the ends of which are held together by a drawstring releasably locked together with a spring clamp or the like.
The restraint collar of Lippincott (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,295) comprises two side-by-side floppy rings of soft padding such as laminated medical padding, which are sown together along their inner margins and have a drawstring in a passage. The rings have adjacent faces of a plastic material and opposite faces of a soft absorbent material, and are gathered to form radial pleats.
The protective pet collar of Klinkhart et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,828) has two sheets of hard but flexible material, such as low density polyethylene, fastened around the animal's neck, which may have a foam pad to make the collar more comfortable to the animal. This collar has a width adjustment made possible by a series of male and female fasteners.
The recovery collar of Schmid et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,802) has the shape of a round pillow with a central aperture. The round pillow is formed by either a single large disk or by a large and a small disk glued together or molded as one piece. Each disk is made of foam. The disks are covered with vinyl and the cover also forms a shawl extending into the aperture and having a drawstring that is tightened to fit comfortably around the animal's neck.
The adjustable pet collar of Bowen (U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,222) is simply a split cylinder of foam that is held in place on the animal's neck with a hook strap of Velcro™.
The split Elizabethan collar of Schmid (U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,046) is inflatable by means of a valve filling the collar or a circular bladder within the collar. The collar may also include a piece of foam placed in the collar or the collar may be permanently inflated. The split in the collar allows the collar to be placed around an animal's neck without slipping it over the animal's head, and then a drawstring is used to secure a shawl on the collar to the animal. The Elizabethan collar is circular in shape having an outer periphery. A central aperture forms an opening for the animal's head. The collar is inflatable, either having a valve filling the collar or a circular bladder placed within the collar and having a valve extending through the cover of the collar for access by the user. In addition to being inflatable, a foam layer may be provided in the collar or the collar may be permanently preinflated without a valve. With the provision of a valve, the foam can be compressed and the valve closed. With the valve closed, the foam will not re-expand until the user opens the valve. This allows the collar to assume a compact configuration when not in use. The collar can be split from the inner periphery formed by the central aperture to the outer periphery of the collar. The two edges formed by the split are joined to one another. The split allows the collar to be put around the animal's neck without sliding the collar over the animal's head.